BAR HARBOR – Spiritual leaders and recovery advocates are collaborating to sponsor four workshops in September on centering prayer following the Rev. Thomas Keating’s visit in July.

“Centering prayer is a method of refining one’s intuitive faculties so that one can enter more easily into contemplative prayer.” Keating of Snowmass, Colo., has said. “It is not the only path of contemplation, but it is a good one.”

The workshops will follow the guidelines for teaching centering prayer created by Contemplative Outreach, an ecumenical teaching organization founded by Keating. They will be held at the Alcyon Center, a ministry of retreat leadership, teaching and spiritual direction in Seal Cove.

The workshops will integrate the procedures and language of the 12-step tradition with centering prayer. The sessions will include an introductory video of Keating, training in the centering prayer practice and two practice sessions with a question and answer period.

Two of the four-hour workshops will focus on centering prayer as an 11th step practice. They will be held 1 to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with an hour break for lunch, Saturday, Sept 13. The other workshops will be held at the same times on Friday, Sept. 19, and Saturday, Sept. 20.

A series of six optional 60- to 90-minute sessions, facilitated by members of the Northeast Guild for Spiritual Formation, will be held later this fall for workshop attendees interested in developing the practice further.

The fee for the workshop and the six follow-up sessions is $20. Registration is required due to limited space.

For more information call Kathleen Miller at Maine Lighthouse, 288-3331 or the Alcyon Center, 244-2060.